Kimberly McCreight

Kimberly McCreight attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After several years as a litigation associate at some of New York City’s biggest law firms, she left the practice of law to write full-time. Her work has appeared in such publications as Antietam Review, Oxford Magazine, Babble, and New York Magazine online.

McCreight's 2013 novel is Reconstructing Amelia.

From her Q & A with Leslie Lindsay:

LL: ... I am currently in the last quarter of the book and find myself racing to the end to find out what really happened to young Amelia. Without giving away too much, did you intend for the book to be a mystery?

Kimberly McC: Reconstructing Amelia was inspired first and foremost by my experiences as a mother, specifically my fears for my daughters as they grow older. And I don’t think I set out to write a mystery per se. I didn’t set out to write any particular kind of book. But as much as I cared about the characters while writing Reconstructing Amelia I was also very interested in the puzzle aspect of the story. And I knew from the outset that a central question driving the narrative would be the “why” of what happened to Amelia. For me, that’s the question at the heart of all great mysteries.

LL: Cyber-bullying has become such an unfortunate trend in young people’s lives—from texts to blogs, to Facebook. You tap into this environment surprisingly well—the teen slang, the secrets, their mannerisms, yet your own children are young. Can you give us a glimpse into your ‘research’ for the book?

Kimberly McC: I was certainly influenced by many news accounts of bullying, though the book wasn’t inspired by any one story in particular. I also did a fair amount of Internet research, exploring what teenagers talk about and what mediums they use. There was a lot that surprised me about the ways teens use social media these days, for better and for worse. I’m amazed how different their definitions of “privacy” and “friend” are from mine. I also talked to local teens while writing Reconstructing Amelia. I grew up in the suburbs, so I needed to get a sense of how the details of life differ for an urban teenager—where they go one weekends, after the school, etc. But much of Amelia’s character was inspired by my own...[read on]

Watch the trailer for Reconstructing Amelia, and learn more about the book and author at Kimberly McCreight's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Reconstructing Amelia.

Writers Read: Kimberly McCreight.

--Marshal Zeringue